Scopolamine during the paradoxical sleep window impairs radial arm maze learning in rats

It has been proposed that there are paradoxical sleep windows (PSW) during which REM sleep is required for effective learning. Thus, rats deprived of REM sleep during 0-4 (but not 5-8) h after training show impaired learning of a radial maze task. As cholinergic (ACh) systems are active during REM sleep and may be involved in learning, this experiment investigated the effects on learning of pharmacological manipulation of the cholinergic system during the period identified as the PSW. Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to groups that were physically deprived of REM for 4 h either immediately after training or beginning 4 h after training or treated with the ACh receptor antagonist scopolamine (0-0.4 mg/kg at 0 and 2 h after training or 0.006 mg/kg at 4 and 6 h after training) on each of 9 days of radial maze training. Post-training REM deprivation (0-4 h but not 5-8 h after training) and scopolamine dose-dependently impaired learning. Results suggest that REM sleep and intact ACh neurotransmission are required during the PSW for rats to learn the radial maze task.